William e



(No-Mode1.)

E. COL E. STEERING APPARATUS FOR BOATS.

Patented Mar.- 24, 1896.

A I V fi m IGRAHAM. FHm-UTHQWASHINGWN. D.C.

7 UN TED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

\VILLIAH E. CO LE, OF ATLANTA, GEORGIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO ADOLPHUS J. VIGKERS, OF SAME PLACE.

STEERING APPARATUS FOR BOATS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 557,052, dated March 24, 1896.

Application filed March 1, 1895. Serial No. 540,242. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM E. COLE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Atlanta, in the county of Fulton, State of Georgia, have invented a new and useful Apparatus for Steering Boats, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to provide a plan to change the course of a boat more rapidly and with greater ease than the method heretofore used. I accomplish this object by use of the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a port-side view of the boat with my apparatus attached, and Fig. 2 is a top plan of same and shows one of the wing rudders thrown out from the side of the boat and in action.

Similar letters refer to similar parts throughout the views.

My invention consists of wing rudders A B hinged at their front ends to the sides of the boat near the bow and operated by means of steam-pressure exerted in the cylinders O D. The wing rudders A B are shaped to fit the side of the boat closely when not in use. They are hinged to the sides of the boat with the hinge E E. At or near the center of the wing rudder there is secured an eyebolt F F, and connected to these eyebolts are the loopbars G G, which are also connected with the pistons H H. The cylinders O D are bolted or otherwise secured to the inside of the boat, the loop-bars working through the hull of the boat.

The rods B B are secured to the pistons H and H, respectively. Around each of rods l3 B there is a coil-spring B E the resistance of the spring being held by means of the collars 0 0 Each cylinder is connected by a steam-pipe B B with the boiler of the boat and a two-way valve, placed at some convenient place on the pipe, to be handled by the pilot.

The coil-springs l3 13 are used to hold the wing rudders close against the sides of the boat when not in use.

The operation of my device is as follows: Should the course of the boat be that shown in the drawings, Fig. 2, and it be desired to change the course in the direction of the arrow, it is obvious that if the steam be admitted into the cylinder D the pressure exerted on the piston H will throw the wing rudder A in the position shown, and the resistance of the water against the movement of the win g rudder A will cause the head of the boat to glide toward the direction of the arrow. The greater distance the rudder is thrown out from the side of the boat the greater will be the change in thecourse. Should both the wing rudders be set out at once the tendency would be to stop the boat. When the steampressure is taken from 0E the piston, the resistance of the water will throw the wing rudders back against the side of the boat, and the springs B B will hold them in that position.

The action of the wing rudder differs from that of the ordinary stern rudder in this way: When the boat is steered by means of a stern rudder, the back end of the boat must swing around in order to point the head of the boat in the desired direction. Now in steering the boat with my device the front end is immediately shoved in the direction desired by means of the resistance of the water against the wing without the back end having to swing.

When two boats approach each other in the same path, in their attempts to pass the stern rudder swings the stern across the path of the approaching boat, and if the boats are near each other when this takes place the back ends may collide. Now by the use of both the stern rudder and my device each boat may be made to glide out of its path to the right or left, as the case may be, keeping the same course all the time--that is, the boat can be made to move out of its path and remain parallel to its former course, thereby preventing the back ends of the boats from striking against one another.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

1. A boat or vessel, combined with wing rudders which are pivoted at their front ends upon opposite sides of the bow, a steam-cylinder for each rudder, a piston and pistonrod in each cylinder, a loop-bar which projects through the open end of each cylinder and is 10 of the boat opposite the rudders and open at their outer ends, piston-rods which project through the piston-heads, springs applied to the projecting ends of the rods, and the loopbars loosely connected to the outer sides of the pistons and to the inner sides of the rud- I 5 ders, substantially as described.

XVILLIAM E. COLE. lVitnesses:

CHAS. E. ARD, HARRY H. MILES. 

